Mike Tindall: England must be ready to face Cardiff cauldron of hate

Tindall with try scorer Chris Ashton in the 26-19 win over Wales in Cardiff 2011

The crowd are so ­vocal, it’s like boiling point from start to finish

Mike Tindall

Stuart Lancaster’s men face a showdown with Wales in the ­Millennium Stadium knowing a win would see them land their first Grand Slam in a decade.

Tindall was part of the last side to sweep all before them back in 2003. Later that year they went on to conquer the

world under Sir Clive Woodward in Australia.

The former England captain, and most-capped centre of all time with 75, has played in some of the most hostile

grounds in the world.

But the 34-year-old insists taking on Wales in their own backyard is as tough as it gets and will give Lancaster’s

men the ultimate test of their ­mental and physical powers.

Tindall said: “For me, the Millennium Stadium is the best stadium in world rugby.

Boiling

“It’s also the most hostile. That’s what makes it so ­special. The crowd are so ­vocal, it’s like boiling point from start to

finish.

“It’s hard to hear a thing, hard to hear the calls. That’s the biggest challenge, to ­silence the crowd. It’s so tough there, things reach a new level.

“It’s all down to how much the Welsh players want to beat the English, how much the crowd want to see England

lose.

“Cardiff will be buzzing. The atmosphere will have built up all afternoon.

“I don’t know why they ­dislike us so much, but they want to beat us more than the other Celtic nations. They just raise their game.”

Tindall, who made his debut in 2000, led England to a rare win in Cardiff in 2011, sealing the Six Nations title in his first game in charge. But he has more bad memories than good from his trips across the Severn Bridge.

“Someone threw a 20p piece at him. So he picked it up, threw it back and said, ‘You might be needing this more

than me, mate’.

“That was it. The crowd erupted in abuse towards him. He was off like a shot, pretending to warm up.

“It’s going to be a hard game for England, that’s for sure.”

Lancaster’s men limped to an 18-11 win over ­Italy at Twickenham last weekend to set up this decider against Rob ­Howley’s resurgent outfit.

Tindall reckons that will have dented England’s ­confidence, but is sure the ­visitors can secure a famous win and that Lancaster is building a team to be feared ahead of the 2015 World Cup on home soil.

He said: “The first 20 ­minutes will be crucial. This is when a game can be won.

“You can take the edge off the crowd with a good start. Put your plans in place and you can sneak 10 points clear.

England are by far the best team in the Six Nations. The most important thing about them is their base game.

“It’s of the highest standard and that will always keep you in a game. But they need to keep working on their ­

consistency in attack.

“The performance against Italy wasn’t great, but we failed to convert some chances and the Italians are a better

team than people give them credit for.

Habit

“As a player, I would have preferred to be going to ­Cardiff on the back of a ­convincing win last week and high on

confidence.

“But a win is a win. You get used to winning, it becomes a habit. You can’t perform at your best all the time.

“I just can’t see how it would ever be a bad thing to win a Grand Slam. What’s wrong with winning every game?

“The World Cup-winning side I was part of were further down the line than England are now. We won 17 games on

the bounce.

“But under Stuart and his coaching team, England are wanting to evolve and get ­better.”